Google PH to work with SEC on lending apps
Credit to Author: Tyrone Jasper C. Piad| Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 16:13:54 +0000
GOOGLE Philippines has vowed to help the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remove illegal lending applications, or “apps,” from its online app store Google Play.
In an interview, SEC Commissioner Kelvin Lee told The Manila Times that “Google has committed to working closely with the commission in dealing with this issue on illegal lending apps.”
This comes after SEC and Google Philippines officials met on October 14 to discuss how to implement stricter measures for the registration of apps on Google Play to counter the increasing number of illegal online lending operators there.
“The commission and Google will further discuss and coordinate on the use of Google’s reporting mechanism to process the removal of these apps,” Lee said.
The regulator has been intensifying its crackdown on these apps, closing 48 illegal operators since September.
The SEC found that these app operators do not have certificates to operate as lending or financing companies.
“The continued operation of such unlicensed online lending activities is thus a continuing violation of Republic Act 9474, [or] the ‘Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007,’ which makes it punishable for any person to engage in the lending business without a permit from the SEC,” an SEC cease-and-desist order says.
Violators may face a fine ranging from P10,000 to P50,000, six months to 10 years in jail, or both.
“We will give updates as our talks with Google progress,” Lee said.